Pinellas County, Florida is an area with a vibrant political landscape. The county is made up of 24 cities and towns, each with their own governing body responsible for the well-being of their citizens. At the county level, there are numerous opportunities for citizens to be involved in the political process. Citizens can participate in local government by voting in elections for county commissioners and other elected officials who decide on matters like education, health care, public safety, economic development, and more. Additionally, Pinellas County residents have access to a number of nonpartisan organizations that provide voter registration information and advocate on behalf of issues that affect them. With so much going on politically in the county, it’s important for citizens to stay informed about the issues that matter to them most.
The political climate in Pinellas County, FL is leaning liberal.
In Pinellas County, FL 49.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 49.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Pinellas county flipped narrowly Democratic, 49.4% to 49.2%.
Pinellas county flipped Democratic in most recent Presidential election (2016 and 2004 went Republican).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Pinellas County, FL is leaning liberal.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Florida is leaning conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Pinellas, Florida: d r d d r d
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Pinellas County, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 55,351 contributions totaling $6,269,844 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $113 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 16,359 contributions totaling $10,039,302 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $614 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)